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Gary Futcher, head teacher of All Saints Church of England Academy, Plymouth, said: “We are firmly focused on the future, having recently been praised by Ofsted for taking decisive and effective action which has already brought about major change and improvements this year.

“A restructure of staff and leadership has been successfully completed, new appointments have strengthened our range of experience and expertise, and our ‘Ready to Learn’ policy is having a positive impact across the school.

“We are clearly on an upward trajectory and our future looks bright, especially with the ongoing support of the Diocese of Exeter and the Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust.”

Johnny Mercer, MP for Plymouth Moor View, said: “I have a vision of providing the very best education offer to our young people in Plymouth and of late I am becoming increasingly aware that what we are currently offering in some schools is becoming sub-optimal.

“I am determined to improve this and – working closely with Plymouth City Council – I intend to focus heavily on improvements and reforms in 2018.

“I get the message; I will act.”

Gary Futcher, headteacher at All Saints (Image: Penny Cross)

All Saints is the only school in Devon and Cornwall on the list. There are three in Somerset.

Unstable leadership, high staff turnover and difficulties recruiting were noted as shared characteristics between these schools, while many have high proportions of pupils from deprived areas.

More than 500 primary schools and around 200 secondaries have been judged as requiring improvement or being satisfactory at their last two inspections, according to the report.

Of those inspected this year, around 80 primary and 50 secondary schools were found not to have been rated good or outstanding at any point since 2005.

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner said schools were struggling with Government policies, which had created problems with teachers’ pay and recruitment while driving up their workload.

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Calling for greater support for struggling schools, she added: “Fixating on all the things holding schools back can distract us all from working on the things that take them forward.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), welcomed Ofsted’s focus on schools “trapped in cycles of under-performance” and their acknowledgement “this does not mean there is a lack of desire to improve”.